Taking the Leap
by aolande1
Summary: Based on the latest 3x22 sneak peek. One-shot.


A/N: So I kept telling myself I wasn't going to write a story on that fabulous sneak peek that was released a few nights ago. But, of course, I couldn't stop myself. So here it is. I hope you guys enjoy it! Just a one-shot of something I would love to see happen in the show. Of course it wont, but we can all dream, right?

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Castle.

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><p>"I should go. It's late. Goodnight," she said as she reluctantly got up from the couch they were sharing.<p>

She walked towards her room, the only safety net she had in Los Angeles, hoping and praying he would let it be. Her resolve was weak and she knew the slightest objection from him would change everything.

"Kate…"

And there it was. It took everything inside of her to not walk back over to where she was sitting moments before. No, she wasn't going to do that. She wasn't going to risk losing him over a moment of weakness.

"Goodnight, Castle," she let out with what little voice she had left.

She closed the door. The one thing keeping her from him. The one thing keeping her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

Her head was spinning. It had been an exhausting two days and all she wanted to do was sleep. Why now? Why was he saying something now?

She leaned back against the door willing herself to walk into the room and go to bed. But she couldn't. Why couldn't she just go to bed? Let it be. Forget about what he said. Forget about how he makes her feel. She knew the answer. Because she didn't want to let it be. She didn't want to ignore the feelings he elicited in her.

If ignoring her feelings was the right and easy thing to do, then why was it getting harder and harder to do so every day?

She ran her fingers through her hair and rested her head in her hands. She needed to figure this out. She needed to figure out what she wanted with him. Did she want to be just friends or did she want to dive in? Again, she knew the answer. So what was stopping her? Fear. Fear of getting hurt. Fear of not knowing what was going to happen once she crossed that line. Fear of feeling too much.

She took a deep breath and turned to face the door. All she had to do was open it. Say no to her fear and open the door. They needed to talk. There was no harm in talking. Sure, they had never really talked about their feelings before, but now was as good a time as any, right? He had already gotten the ball rolling.

Her hand hovered over the handle but not long enough for her to change her mind. She grabbed it, turned it down and opened the door.

Her eyes went automatically to the couch they had been occupying moments earlier. But he wasn't there. She felt her breath catch as she scanned the rest of the room.

He had gotten up and was heading towards his room, his back to her.

"Castle," she whispered surprising herself as much as him. He stopped and she let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

This was it. There was no turning back now.

As he turned around to face her, she couldn't help but notice his eyes light up. She let out a tiny smile at the sight, which he returned.

They stood there, facing each other. Him in front of his door, her in front of hers. Neither really sure what the next move should be.

She held his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and hunching her shoulders upward in hopes of letting him know she was willing to talk without actually having to say it.

He must have read her body language because at the sight of her surrendering notion, he began to walk towards her, slowly. Keeping his eyes locked with hers.

He stopped a few feet from her and she closed the remaining distance. For the first time she really noticed how much shorter than him she was without her heels.

She looked up at him and gave another hesitant smile. Here they were standing inches from each other as Kate realized she hadn't really given much thought to what she would say after she opened her door.

"I'm sorry," he let out in a defeated tone.

This brought her out of the inner battle she was having with herself. "What for?" she asked feeling her heart sink as she noticed the sadness in his eyes.

He took a deep breath and began, "For saying what I did. Being too forward." He let his gaze drift down to her mouth for a split second. "I'm not taking back what I said, I meant every word, but I apologize for ambushing you during dinner," he let out with a half-smile.

"Castle, I don't want you to apologize. You don't have anything to apologize for. You didn't ambush me, you just caught me off guard," she said honestly. She didn't want him to take back what he said. She liked what he said.

He held her gaze willing her to continue.

"I'm not really sure what this is between us," she said moving her hand back and forth in the space that separated them. "I don't really know what I'm feeling. I've never really felt this before. What I feel when I'm around you, it's different," she finished noticing her heart rate was significantly increasing.

"Different good?" he asked with a lop-sided smile.

Kate nodded as she let out another breath, "I think so, yeah. Castle, these feelings I have, they scare me." She paused for a moment gathering the strength she needed to continue. "You're my best friend. I don't want to do anything that's going to jeopardize our friendship."

He nodded as he took in what she was saying. "Kate, I'm scared too. This is new for me too. But I don't think we're going to jeopardize our friendship. This thing between us…it could be great, if we let it. I know it's a big step, but I'm willing to take it. I want to take it, with you. I want you. All of you. I have for a long time now. And tonight, after everything we've been through this weekend, I just felt that I needed to let you know how I feel. I'm tired of pretending that I only want to be your friend. I'm tired of constantly having to suppress these feelings I have, for you. I want you, Kate. That's not going to change."

"I know. Castle, I know all that. I do. I just don't want to jump into something that we're not ready for," she responded hoping he would understand.

"I know you're scared, but I'm asking you to take this leap with me. I know there will be questions that need answers. I'm not saying it will be perfect. We'll have to work at it. We'll take it slow. Day by day if we have to..."

She stopped him by placing her hand against his chest. She smiled, eyes glistening, and nodded a few times before finding her voice. Maybe even nodding more to convince herself of what she was about to say than him. "Okay. I want to. I want to be with you, Rick," she finished looking deep into his eyes not being able to help her smile that was growing larger.

He let out a breath at her words and returned her smile. He reached out and placed his hands on her cheeks. He tucked away a stray strand of hair that had fallen onto her face. "You won't regret this, Kate," he said gently looking deep into her eyes.

"I know," she answered as she leaned forward and closed the distance between them.

The kiss was slow and passionate. Almost exploratory. As it deepened, arms wrapped around each other, accepting and caressing.

They stayed like that, in each other's arms, sharing warm and passionate kisses until the need for air became too strong.

Kate pulled back and looked at him with glazed over eyes. It took everything inside of her to not dive right back in. She realized she had waited a long time to kiss him like that. To really kiss him, as herself.

"Wow," she let out through heavy breaths. "That was…"

"Amazing," he finished.

"Yeah," she added quickly not being able to hide her satisfaction.

He moved forward and reached his arm around her waist. "There's more where that came from," he said as he leaned in to steal another kiss.

"Wait," she said putting her hand on his chest, only this time it was to halt his movement. "I need to end things with Josh before…before we continue this," she said still trying to catch her bearings. She swallowed hard, "I want to do this right. I don't want to start things with you when I'm in a relationship with him. I don't want to tarnish this in any way."

"I understand, Kate. And I respect that. So as hard as it is for me to say it, I'm going to bid you goodnight and go to my room, alone," he said with his signature "puppy dog" face threatening to make an appearance.

"Thank you, Castle. For tonight. For everything."

He nodded and pulled her into a hug. "Always, Kate."

She pulled away and placed a sweet kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he returned as her hand slipped out of his and she walked towards her room.

For the second time tonight she closed her door on him. Only this time was completely different than the first. She leaned against the door with a whole different look on her face and feeling in her heart. She had taken the leap. She dove in. She didn't know what was going to happen, and for the first time she wasn't worried about it. She had listened to her heart. And as she bit her lower lip to stop her from smiling like a schoolgirl who had been kissed for the very first time, she retreated into her room knowing that the faster she fell asleep, the sooner the morning would come. A new morning, with Castle, her partner who had become much more all because she had finally taken the leap.

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><p><em>The End...thoughts?<em>


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